Mako, like every morning, left the land of his dreams when the sun began to rise in the sky. Its first rays always made him feel energized, far more effective than any kind of alarm clock. Mako yawned as his mind remembered all the things he had to do that day. Find the witnesses to that robbery at the vet, deliver the reports to the Chief, and buy apples for grandma Yin. It would be a normal day if he was lucky. Climbing out from under the covers, Mako put his feet on the floor and was surprised to find women's pants and an orange blouse.
Oh, of course. He was not alone.
Putting on his pants, Mako left his bedroom towards the small kitchen of his apartment. There he felt the delicious smell of something in the pan and the even more delicious sight of Opal just wearing one of his shirts, too big for her. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and smiled at him. "Good morning, Mako."
"Hello, Opal. I see you stole my clothes."
"It's not stealing if you leave it on the floor for anyone to take," she said without turning around. Mako heard the smile in her voice. "Plus you don't have women's clothes in your apartment and it's too cold to walk around naked."
"Too bad, I knew you were only using me as your personal warmer," he said with a small smile, coming over and hugging her from behind, kissing her hair. For a moment he thought about telling her that she didn't need to make breakfast for him, but Opal probably already knew. "I didn't know you could cook."
"I can't. No Bei Fong woman can cook, it's our family curse. But I figured I could try to make an omelette without burning your apartment."
"Your boyfriend is a firebender so we won't be burned to death. Let me help you," he said putting cheese and eggs in the pan. "Do you want it with spinach or tomato?"
"Both," she said letting Mako finish cooking, covering her mouth as she yawned. "And with my airbending I would have saved us from any fire, you know it."
"Opal Bei Fong, you're the only one who can break the curse on your family," Mako said taking a tomato slice and holding it close to her face. Opal opened her mouth and ate it, their eyes meeting for the first time. Mako smiled. She was so resplendent that being near her made him feel like a star shining in the sky. Her green eyes on her sweet face had the same effect as the sun in the morning. Each and every one of her hairs, her smile, were a whole firmament.
"I'm starving you know?" said Mako putting both hands on the counter, around her, close, very close, and still not touching her, but he could almost breathe her as if she were bending the air around them and-
"I think we have time to eat slowly," Opal said an inch closer. "The advantages of waking up early."
"It's the most important meal."
Mako put a hand on her waist and pulled her closer to him, letting Opal bend the air in their breaths to turn them into one.